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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23536507">A Sparrow, a Hawk, a Storm</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntoTheRiverStyx/pseuds/IntoTheRiverStyx'>IntoTheRiverStyx</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Requests/challenges/etc [14]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Arthurian Mythology</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Travelers AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 22:08:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>873</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23536507</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntoTheRiverStyx/pseuds/IntoTheRiverStyx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lou and Rey started yelling about the woman with the sparrow hawk and Gawain and I may have misunderstood the prompt? Anyways, here you go you two.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gawain/the woman with the hawk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Requests/challenges/etc [14]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1673452</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Sparrow, a Hawk, a Storm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reynier/gifts">Reynier</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/secace/gifts">secace</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Alright, out you go,” the truck driver – her name had been Diane or Dana or something, “shooed Gawain out of her cab as soon as she had the thing in park, “Good luck where ever you're going.”</p><p>“Thanks,” Gawain told her. She's picked him out somewhere just outside of San Antonio and had taken him all the way to just north of El Paso, nearly to the state line, but had made it very clear he needed to find somewhere else to sleep. Still, she'd agreed to give him her shower tokens in exchange for a six-pack of soda, which was infinitely cheaper than paying for a truck stop shower outright when he, well, wasn't a truck driver.</p><p>He hummed as he made his way towards the main building, the rapidly darkening sky not doing anything to darken his good mood.</p><p>A sharp whistle drew his attention. He couldn't see where it had come from, but that didn't stop him from seeking out the source.</p><p>He was, if anything, perpetually curious.</p><p>He found a young woman – about his age, give or take – whistling at an oversized bird perched atop an empty trailer.</p><p>“Everything alright here?” Gawain asked. She startled and turned to face him.</p><p>“Oh!” she said, eyes wide, “Yes, well, no, but it will be.”</p><p>“Uh,” Gawain frowned, “do you need any help?”</p><p>“No, no,” she assured him, “just that my hawk's decided a trailer makes a good perch and I'd hate for him to accidentally be driven off with.”</p><p>“Your <i>what?</i>” Gawain was sure he'd heard that wrong.</p><p>“Right up there,” she pointed, “He's well. Not <i>mine</i>-mine, but he follows me and helps me hunt small game and I've basically been with him since he was a fledgling but if he ever decides to fly off there isn't anything I can do about that.” She knew she was rambling, but really, between the stress of her hawk being defiant and being caught off-guard, Gawain couldn't blame her. Beyond that, he liked the cadence of her voice.</p><p>“Can I get something to help lure him down?” Gawain asked.</p><p>“Oh!” her face lit up, “Yeah, some lunchmeat that isn't flavored.”</p><p>“Back in a moment,” Gawain nodded and jogged into the truck stop.</p><p>He found a half-pound plastic box of roast beef, paid for it as quickly as he could, and jogged it back out to her.</p><p>“Here,” he handed her the box.</p><p>“Thanks,” she said, “My name's Sparrow.”</p><p>“Mine's Gawain,” he told her, “Sparrow and her Hawk, eh?”</p><p>“Oh don't,” she said with a laugh. She opened the box of roast beef, grabbed a handful, held it aloft, and whistled again. This time, the hawk looked at her, considering, then flew down, landed on her shoulder, and took some of the beef from her hand.</p><p>“Doesn't that hurt?” Gawain asked.</p><p>“I'm wearing protection,” she told him, then quickly added, “Oh my God.”</p><p>Gawain doubled over laughing, mostly at how embarrassed she was.</p><p>Thunder rumbled and the hawk flew off again.</p><p>“I need to follow him!” Sparrow exclaimed, slinging her pack over her back and taking off.</p><p>“I'm coming!” Gawain decided, tightening his own pack and taking off after her.</p><p>They ran down the side of the highway, across fields, across a couple smaller roads as the sky broke open them.</p><p>“He's headed for the trees,” Sparrow pointed at a small cluster of trees in the otherwise flat area.</p><p>“Good for him,” Gawain said, “What about us?”</p><p>“Uh,” Sparrow looked around, “There!” She pointed to a handmade three-sided, near-panoramic pantomime of a theater with 'REPENT OR BURN' crudely spray painted on each side.</p><p>“Eh,” Gawain shrugged, “let's go see if I burn.”</p><p>Sparrow kept an eye on her hawk as she and Gawain huddled behind the sign, trying to shield themselves from as much of the wind as possible.</p><p>“It's colder than I expected in Texas,” Sparrow shivered.</p><p>“First time through here?” Gawain asked. Sparrow nodded, “Yeah, the nights can get cold, and the rain can get colder, but you're not going to freeze to death.”</p><p>“Still,” Sparrow's teeth were chattering.</p><p>“There are a few ways to warm up,” Gawain raised an eyebrow.</p><p>“You know,” Sparrow laughed, “somehow one of the better ideas I've heard lately.”</p><p>Gawain grinned, a near-predatory thing, and leaned in to kiss her but she was faster, knocking Gawain flat on his back.</p><p>“Oh!” Gawain exclaimed, “Oh, I quite like <i>this</i>.”</p><p>“Good,” Sparrow returned his grin.</p><p>–</p><p>As the rain finally, finally began to let up, they pulled their clothes back around themselves and Sparrow whistled for her hawk.</p><p>“Now what?” Sparrow asked.</p><p>“Well,” Gawain checked his pocket to make sure it was still there, “I have a shower token and it seems like it might be a good idea to get the mud out of our hair.”</p><p>“I like the way you think,” Sparrow told him.</p><p>“Where you headed after this?” Gawain asked. Sparrow shrugged.</p><p>“Where ever I wind up,” she told him.</p><p>“Funny about that,” Gawain started walking back in the general direction of the truck stop, “That's also where I'm headed.”</p><p>Sparrow took his hand in hers and squeezed.</p><p>They could, Gawain figured, get on until their <i>where ever I wind up</i>s took them different directions.</p>
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